Learning to Survive
by Lairah
Summary: You don´t know how you love somebody until you miss it. I have missed everything. I know he has too. The big Achilles has missed the only thing he had loved more than inmortality. But it was not my problem.
1. Chapter One

You don´t know how you love somebody until you miss it.

I have missed everything. I know he has too.

The big Achilles has missed the only thing he had loved more that inmortality.

But it was not my problem.

I have my own ones. I can´t sleep. I haven´t slept well for so long I can´t remember how it was.

A good dream. I can´t dream. I just have nightmares.

I can just see them die. My parents, all my family. My city burning down. Big flames covering almost everything: houses, roads, people--, that wooden and frightening horse seemed to laugh at us as it was burnt too.

Real horses and other animals trying to run away as well as men, women and childs. But the tall walls of our city were a trap for us, its own citizens.

I see my parents die once and again. My father trying to protect us, with his shield, armour and his sword. He was a warrior, he died as a warrior. No, he died as a man, as every man from Troy.

They, the great greek warriors cut his head off.

I saw it falling down over the ground with an horrible noise. Blood all over the floor. His eyes seemed to stare at me but he couldn´t see.

And they killed my little brother, as he, that Achilles, did with my prince Hector, with Paris´ brother.

But mine was just four years old.

I can still hear his screams, he cried because he was frightened, because of the noises. I cried for him, because I knew there was just one destiny for children and babies: the death.

I wish I was dead too but for me they had other plans.

My mother tried to help me as she tried to help my little brother, as my father tried to help us.

They all failed.

The warriors killed my mother and trapped me.

I again wished I was dead just like my loved ones.

It is always that horrible nightmare, every night, but it is more horrible to know it isn´t a nightmare, just reality.

As I said I can see him cry too, just like me but nobody knows it. He tries not to show his own feelings.

The great warrior Achilles doesn´t look at me at all. I think I remind him of her as she was a troyan, just like me. But she was killed and he couldn´t do anything to help.

I saw her body falling down the castle walls, she was dead before meeting the ground.

I think Achilles couldn´t talk to her before it was too late.

I couldn´t tell my parents how I loved them.

Now I´m 17 years old and I´m a slave.

I must serve the ones who killed my family.

I couldn´t run away but I know there were others who did save their lifes.

They told me Andromache, prince Hector´s wife ran away with their son and that prince Paris and Helen got it too.

Some days ago I hoped they would come back to save us, their city only survivors.

Today there is no hope. They left us and I hate them as much as Achilles hates the one who killed his love.

I heard warriors talk about it, I heard we are coming back to Greece in some days, as soon as the storm is off. I think we will be selt but can be sure, if I meet my prince or Helen I would kill them.

I have decided stop eating, I want death. But they make me do it.

They can´t sell me or use me if I die.

I have fought them, I face them every night when they try to take me. I have bruises that prove it, all over my body.

They hit me until I can´t move but then they go.

There are others like me that aren´t so luckily. I can hear my troyan brothers and sisters screams and cries and prayers in the night. They too want to die. They want to meet Hades and the Underwold, anything would be better than it.

We are just sixty or so, I think. Some can fight yet, others have lose their strenght and I feel I´m loosing mine too.

Today I was told to go and serve the dinner.

Greek warriors aren´t all the same, they aren´t all that brute and bad guys but there are lots of them.

Some went into the city to take what was left into the ruins. The others are with the boats, reparing it and getting new ones from troyan´s.

I went out of my tent, if that can be called a tent, and went to help cooking for them. They killed some of our great horses and I had to serve it.

Already know why I can´t eat.

I went and some of them laughed at me, the drunk ones, they told me all sort of things a person should never hear.

I tried not to look at them, I was lucky they were not all like that.

Achilles didn´t stay near the others and there was a man that always looked at me with sadness on his face. I think he is called Odysseus.

That night I felt down with some of the lunch and it went all over the ground. A short but stong man hit me. Odysseus was the one who face him for me. "Just don´t put a hand on her again" he ordered.

The brute one looked at him angrily. "She have throw our lunch away".

" If you don´t want it to happen maybe you should take care of your lunch by yourself" Odysseus said.

The drunk man went back and sit again. " I will talk about your bad ways, helping war slaves--"

"Talk to who? I´m the king of Ithaca, I will not receive any orders Flavius, I just have had enough of it. And maybe they are slaves but they are not animals"

"Do you think you are Achilles? Are you fucking that troyan whore or something?"

"She isn´t a whore and she is just a girl, I--"

Odyseus couldn´t finish his statement because a sword hit the drunk man.

I saw his blood running down over his body from his opened mouth, he seemed surprised and soon he was lying on the ground.

Achilles was just near him

"I advised not to share a word about me, that´s enough" he said with an angry look and fire on his eyes.

He looked at me and I took one step away from him. He smiled but it was a sarcastic and icely smile.

"There are people here you should be more frightened of than me. We are all near snakes" he told me.

"I think all of you are the same kind of animal, not snakes but rats"

I know I should have been quiet but I couldn´t help it. He hit me on my face and I felt down.

I tasted blood on my tongue, I had beating it. But I stared at him and didn´t say a word.

Achilles stared at me for a moment and then turned to Odysseus. "Take care of that girl and make her stay out of my sight or--" he looked at me but I didn´t see hate on his eyes, just sadness, he went away.

Odysseus took my hand and helped me to get up."Are you alright?" he asked gently. I nodded.

The others had began eating egain but some of the slaves, my friends, were staring at us.

"It´s okay Arish. Go and rest"

I was socked, he knew my name, but I didn´t ask anything, I just nodded again. "Thank you"

"Not at all"

He smiled and I turned back to my tent.


	2. Chapter Two

Back in my tent I tried to sleep although I knew I wouldn´t.

I put my back onto the hard ground, it hurt a lot. I was not used to sleep like that. I wanted my soft and warm bed in my comfortable room near my little brother--

I couldn´t help it, I began to cry softly, how I missed him, he was just so young, just a baby. How could anybody kill a baby?

I hated them, I would take revenge if I could.

But I couldn´t.

I looked at the top of the tent, tears running down my face. I hated me, I should have protected him but--I was afraid.

It seems I said that loudly because somebody answered me.

" You couldn´t have do anything to protect him, and you know it. Don´t blame yourself"

I got up quickly just to see Odysseus in my tent, knelt and carrying a plate with lunch between his hands. He was the one who had spoken.

I was surprised and my face showed it.

"Don´t be afraid, I just thought you hadn´t eat, were I wrong?" he asked.

"I´m not hungry" I said sharply.

I blamed myself for being so rude but I couldn´t help it. I wouldn´t get anything by acting like that with the only one who wanted to help me but I were embarrasing too as he had seen my cry.

Luckily he was more polite than me.

" Well, anyway I will leave this plate here, just in case somebody get hungry, there are lots of rats outhere" he said.

I smiled and cleaned my tears, I looked at him but he didn´t seem to be offended for what I had said before, that "you are rats" thing, and I saw he was joking. I thanked it and had to excuse myself.

"I´m sorry, I didn´t mean to be so rude, thank you" I said as I took the plate and left it on the ground near me.

He looked at me and smile too. "Don´t worry, I would act just like that if I were you. You must think we are killers and horrible ones"

"Or rats"

He laughed. "Yeah, some kind of ugly and dangerous rats"

He made me laugh too, it was the first time I laughed in weeks, I thought I had forgotten how to do it.

"You have a lovely laugh, I´m pleased to see you haven´t lose it" he said with a smile as reading my thoughts.

I looked away and stop laughing "Thanks".

There was a moment no one say a word, then he moved.

"Well, I think I should go. Have a nice dinner". Odysseus said as he began going out of the tent.

"Wait" I whispered. He stopped. "I wanted to thank you"

"You already had" he remembered me.

"Why are you so kind with me?"

"I´m not so kind, it´s just that the others are too rude." he laughed. Then he put his blue eyes on me "Nobody deserves to be treated like an animal, no matter who he or her is, a prissoner or a free man. Some of us try to keep our honor although we are killers"

I nodded.

"Good night Arish, and don´t worry, nobody will disturb you this night I promise, try to sleep well"

" I will"

I saw him go out of my tent and smile again, I believed him and for the first time I felt safe.

I eat all the lunch, it wasn´t truth I wasn´t hungry, besides I found out it wasn´t horse meat but chicken.

Then I tried to sleep, and it surprised me I got it.


	3. Chapter Three

--First of all thank you everybody for the reviews. I know I had (and I will have) some gramatical errors, I´m sorry, I will try to do it better but english isn´t my first language so be patient.--

--Here it goes the third chapter. They are going to distribute the prissoners and everything they have taken from the burnt city. Odysseus will try to get Arish--

The next morning the sounds of men going up and down carrying things and the screams of young prissoners woke me up.

I opened my eyes just in time to feel somebody grabbing my arm and throwing me away onto the hard ground out of the tent.

I shouted in pain, my face had met the sand and it was all dirty, besides my nose was beginning to bleed.

"Get up!" somebody ordered me.

But he didn´t wait and grabbed me again with his strong hand. I got up and put a hand over my nose trying to stop the blood. It began running down to my mouth and I spat it. "I can walk" I told him but he didn´t seem to hear or he didn´t want to, he just hit me "Damn you! You will burn in hell!" I shouted at him.

The warrior was going to hit me again but someone put a sword near his neck. "She is mine" a voice said.

I turned and saw it was Odysseus, I should have known, always at the right place just in time. I thanked gods for him. But what was he talking about? His?

The man put his hands away from me and Odysseus put his sword away. The man looked at him. "Who has decided it?" he asked angrily.

"Me" Odysseus said.

The man laughed but he didn´t seem frightened. "And what if I say I got her before and that I´m going to have her?"

"Just let her choose"

"Choose? Prisoners don´t choose anything, they just obbey."

"Well, then I order her to obbey me"

"You can´t do that! You are--"

"Is there any matter?" A young voice said. The man looked at him and shut up. It was Achilles.

Odysseus smiled, I think he knew nobody would face Achilles, no one with a brain would. He looked at the man who wanted me and then back to Achilles.

"We just argued about this girl"

Achilles looked down at me and frowned. "I thought I had tell you to take care of this brave little princess." he said to Odysseus. I felt the sarcastic tone but it wasn´t the time to open the mouth.

"Yes of course, that´s what I was going to do, wasn´t I?" he asked the other man. He nodded.

"Yes, take her, I don´t want a stupid girl, too many problems." The man aswered.

I suppose I should have been happy, I knew Odysseus had been kind with me and I wanted to think he would, but I hated the fact that they chose us just as we were things.

He took my hand and led me to his tent. As we walked I could see the other prisoners. They were young boys and girls almost all but there were too a few young women. One of them looked at me and I could see fear on her face. Her eyes, days ago full of tears, were dry now. But there was something more on her face, not fear but resignation. She had given up. She had accepted her destiny because she knew there was no hope for us.

I wanted to cry again, it couldn´t be the end, it couldn´t! I didn´t want to die as a slave.

I looked at Odysseus who didn´t seem to have noticed the tears over my face and I didn´t understand how could I laugh with him some hours ago, the night before. He was just one of them, he hadn´t make me free, he had taken me as his slave. I was not used to be a slave, I was from an important family, I couldn´t be a slave!

My eyes were full of tears, I barely saw the others warriors chosing their new slaves, chosing some of my friends. Then I saw they were taking some things they had found at the city and I saw something familiar: my father´s sword.

I walked away from Odysseus to the pile of things where it was. He stopped and looked at me without knowing what I wanted. But when I tried to take the sword a warrior grabbed my arm.

"I will take care of it" the man told me.

"It was my father´s sword, it is mine now" I said.

"Heard that?" he said to the other warriors "the slave wants the sword" they all laughed.

I looked at them with anger but it just made them laugh again. I saw Odysseus coming. "I will take it" he said.

"I´m sorry, I found it, I take it" the other man said.

"I´m afraid but she is my slave and everything she had before is now mine"

The warrior couldn´t say a word, he knew the rules and it was one of them.

"Do you see any other thing from your family or yours?" Odysseus asked me. I looked over the pile of things and I found it, a thin silver necklace. I took it.

"My mother´s--" I said. Odysseus nodded. I searched but I didn´t find anything more so we came back to his tent.

I was happy to find something that reminded me of my loved ones. I went into his tent. It was bigger than mine and seemed more comfortable. He went into after me.

"Feel yourself at home" he said gently. "Nobody will disturb you here".

I nodded and looked at the sword, he had it. Odysseus saw what I was looking at and give it to me. "Take it, it´s yours" he said.

I shocked. "Do you want me to take a sword?"

"Well, I already have mine, I don´t need another, I thought you wanted it"

"Yes but--I could kill you, aren´t you afraid?" I asked, I didn´t know what he tried but I took the sword, it was heavy, too heavy and I could barely hang it.

He saw that and laughed. "I will run the risk"

-----------------

- Well, how did it goes?-

- By now Achilles isn´t going to be an important character but I think he will. Anyway I don´t know if I should talk about Odysseus and Arish friendship or make it an Achilles and Arish one. Let me know what do you prefer. I don´t think there will be any love affair as Arish is too young but just let me know what do you want there to happen. Ok?-

-Oh and I wanted to thank my reviewers: beechiki, purplemoofu and Mel. Thanks a lot. ;) -

Review please.-


	4. Chapter Four

--Here it´s chapter 4. I saw your reviews (keep reviewing please, you´re great), I know Odysseus already have a wife in Ithaca but I was not thinking in a love affair between he and Arish, just more like a father-daughter relationship or something like that, I still think Arish is to young. But anyway if you think it would be better an Achilles and Arish father-daughter relation or an Achilles and Arish love affair just let me know.--

--By now I will continue with Odysseus and Arish and how she will try to run away with the other prisoners--

--Enjoy it--

_Chapter Four._

I was in the tent near Odysseus. I had decided not to take my father´s sword by the moment and I left it on the ground next to Odysseus´ one.

"Do you want to have breakfast" he asked.

"Yeah, I´m hungry" this time I didn´t lie. It would be easier that way.

He took a small plate and give it to me. I took some pieces of fruit and eat it.

"I think you will have to eat with the other prisoners as I will have to be with the others next time, but you will sleep here from now on. Ok?"

I nodded.

I felt him looking at me but I didn´t look up, I was eating the fruit and didn´t want to think about any other thing. I had to do things, I had to keep myself busy or I became crying again and didn´t want to.

Everywhere I looked reminded me of my parents and city, it was going to drive me mad.

I closed my eyes and I saw them, the deads, my family--

I felt Odysseus closed to me. "You alright?"

I nodded again but he didn´t believe it and hugged me as tears became running over my face. I put him away and moved away from him. "Don´t touch me!" I shouted as I cried.

"I just want to help you, I know how you fell"

"Really? How can you know? are you a salve?! have you lose your city? your family?!" I looked at him "do you know what a family is?" I asked with anger.

"Yeah, I do have a family" he answered softly "I have a wife and a son" he stared at me "you seem surprised, did you think we weren´t able to love?"

"It´s difficult not to think so"

"I suppose. But we do have a heart too"

"If you have a heart, help me, free my brothers and sisters, let them go!" I begged.

He closed his eyes. "I can´t. I wish I could but there are some rules" he said and looked away.

I sighed.

"Nobody is going to help us, isn´t it? My prince ran away with that Helen and left us, I could have wait that but I thought Andromache would try. They all left us--"

"They are not strong enough to face us, Arish, they will know that if they came back they would be killed. They do the best thing, they run away"

Then I knew what I had to do, it was truth it would be dangerous but we should try it, we should try to run away too.

I had to talk to the others, there was not a good plan but we had only that oportunity and we should try it before it was too late.

We would go to Greece in some days so there wasn´t a second to miss.

That night was the night. While we all were having lunch I told them what the plan was, an easy one. We just must wait until the darkness fall and then run away, that easy.

I knew they were all tied but Odysseus had had the great sword idea and he let me take it so I would thanked him.

We waited until almost everymen got drunk and went to sleep, just the same thing they had done when they went into Troy.

I looked at Odysseus who was sleeping next to me and got up without making a noise. It was late but the night had just started for us. We were placed out of the city but the walls weren´t too far from us.

I went out of the tent and walked, taking my heavy sword with me, to meet the others. They were not all with us, they were too many and we would have been discovered so ten volunters would go with me first and then two of us would come back to lead another group.

The plan, as I said, was simple: to go and find the secret passage that would take us out of Troy.

I knew it wasn´t a great plan but we all were in despair. I wish I were a great warrior just like Hector was, or unless as clever as him but I didn´t feel that way. Anyway it was all I could do and I would do anything to help them and be free.

We walked pass the tents slowly, without making a noise, I was afraid and I knew they were too but they were all brave ones. I heard some of them sobbing and I asked them to be quiet or they would wake up, but ever I had to control myself.

We kept walking for some minutes and then arrived to our destroyed city doors. Then I couldn´t stop them, I couldn´t stop myself. We all cried as we went into our missed city again. It was horrible to see it. Walls burnt down, housed destroyed, black gardens. There were yet some bodies of burnt animals all full of insects that flew over them. I thought I was going to throw up.

Then I saw what it seemed to be part of the wooden horse and I can´t help throwing it away furiously.

"Try it again, I think they haven´t hear the noise" a voice I already knew said. I turned to find Achilles looking at us. My friends went away from him.

"What do you want? Go out! You won´t stop us" I said as I took my sword as I could and threatened him.

He laughed at me and it made me feel angrier.

"What are you going to do? kill me? I thought you were clever, I think I was wrong. But I must say you are brave."

He came near me, I tried to use my sword to hurt him but it was too heavy and it just touched the air. Achilles took it. "Good sword. Thanks. Now come back to the tents before somebody get hurt"

"We won´t" I said.

He looked at me surprised but I felt he was enjoying it.

"You won´t? well, then wait here, they will come to take you" he said as he turned and walked back to the tents with my sword.

"So you are not going to help us, aren´t you?" I asked. I didn´t understand why he had come.

"Why should I?" he said. "You must be mad if you think they are going to let you run away. Anyway I have already help you".

"Yeah, sure--" I whispered, then I turned back to my friends "Let´s go before he say what we are trying to do, come on!"

"I won´t--" I heard him saying but before I could move five tall and strong warriors were in front of us.

--What will happen? Has it been Achilles fault? Well, I don´t think so but we will see on the next chapter. lol.--

--Reviews please! And thanks to curlygirl--


	5. Chapter Five

--More reviews! You´re great guys! I´m so happy! So here you have Chapter Five!! --

The men, five strong warriors, were looking at us with their five swords. They seemed to be angry.

One of them pointed out at me with his finger.

"That one is the slave" he said "you shouldn´t be here you know, what were you trying to do? Run away?" they laughed.

"Better that than doing nothing" I said. I looked out to find Achilles but he was gone. "Damn you..." I whispered, altough I didn´t think he would help us, or did I?

One of them came near me.

"Who do you think you are? Your great and beloved prince Hector? Oh, no, you must think you are Paris, he ran away too, just like a frightened kitty, just like all of you."

They laughed again, I was furious. It was truth what he said about Paris, I thought just the same, but we were not like him.

"I don´t think that what we were trying to do mean we are cowards. It means we are braver than all of you." I told him.

"Really? Why?" he asked.

"Well, you have swords, we don´t, you are warriors, we are citizens, young boys and girls. How old are you?" I said, he wasn´t going to frightening me.

"Just shut up you slave! I have heard enough of your nonsense words. Take them back to the tents!" he ordered.

The men took their swords and threatened the prisoners who became walking back to the tents.

"Move!" the man ordered me.

"Or what? You can´t kill me, you would have to pay for me, I´m Odysseus´ slave." I said firmly.

"I think the pleasure of killing you would be bigger than your value." he said as he smiled. Then he pushed me making me move.

I tried to face him by grabbing his arm but he hit me in the face making my lift bleed. I spat the blood over his face and he took his sword, he hit me again, this time with the back of it, and I fell down with a moan.

Then I could hear him say something about whips and I fell unconscious.

**Odysseus POV: **

I ran to meet the men who where coming back with the prisoners. They hadn´t let me go with them, well, they hadn´t woken me up to tell me what had happened but I think they already knew it. I mean, I think they already knew Arish, my new slave, and the other prisoners were going to try to run away this night.

When I saw the girl I wanted to kill the beast who had treated her like that. I looked at them. "Who is the one who have hit her and why?" I asked with anger but nobody told me.

"She tried to kill me" a tall man said.

I was going to ask him how but somebody did it before me.

"How? With a sword?" my friend Achilles said.

The man nodded. "Yes, she took one"

"This one?" Achilles asked as he showed the sword of Arish´ father. What was he doing with it?

Soon I understood everything. The man had to shut up, he couldn´t say that Arish had taken her sword with her although I knew she had. Achilles had helped her because she could have been blamed and sentenced to death for that.

I thanked him but I didn´t understand why he hadn´t told me about everything, she was with me.

Anyway I knew the rules. Arish had tried to run away and urged the others to do it too. She was going to be punished and I couldn´t do anything to help.

I went to take her back to my tent to take care of her but they stopped me.

"You know the rules Odysseus" the man told me.

"I thought you would prefer to wait till morning so you could see the blood running all over her body" I said angrily.

He didn´t know what to say but then nodded.

"Yes, I will wait till morning"

"Then let me take her to my tent tonight, you will have the girl tomorrow, but now she is mine and I will take care of her." I said.

Then without saying a word I came back to my tent with her.

I put her over a soft blanket. Carefully I cleaned her face with water, the blood that was over her sweet, small lifts and her soft chin. I put her hair away from her forehead. Beautiful brown and long hair.

I looked at her. I couldn´t see her suffer anymore, she had already suffered too much and she was very young.

My brave little princess--as Achilles said.

----------

--Well that´s all by now, we will see what happens in the next chapter. A whip, Arish being punished. I´m not going to enjoy writing it, poor Arish, it´s going to hurt a lot.--

--I hope you have enjoyed it, I thought about writing somebody else´s point of view (POV) so that´s why I wrote Odysseus one, I thought it would be interesting to know what he thinks--

--Thanks a lot to my reviewers, to "Shadow The Tiger" and to "stoned-love", I will think about what you said, it´s a good idea, we will see--


	6. Chapter Six

_Chapter Six_

I opened my eyes as I felt the soft breeze from the morning inside the tent.

I felt it caressing my hair--or wasn´t it the breeze? I felt too the human touch and turned to see it was Odysseus hand but this time that made me feel good. Nevertheless I didn´t like what I saw on her face--

I had a headache, it was like a hammer hiting my head. I felt too that I had a new wound on my lip.

I tried remembering what had happened but it was all very confusing.

I remembered arriving to my city and going into, and my conversation with Achilles and those men. It seemed like it was just a moment ago when they ordered my friends to come back to the tents and--I think they hit me and made me fall unconscious because I can´t remember anymore.

I looked at Odysseus again, he seemed to be afraid of something but why?

I tried to get up and he helped me, then he sat in front o me.

He looked away and explained why he was like that. I was going to be punished for what I had done the night before. The punishment was twenty whip strokes.

I couldn´t hide my fear when I heard it. I hadn´t been treated like that before and now thery were going to hit me like an animal.

My first reaction was trying to run away. It was my instict and I went out of the tent.

But Odysseus went after me and grabbed my arm strongly. Anyway I couldn´t have gone far.

I looked around me, they were all out of their tents and they seemed to wait for something or someone, they were waiting for me--

I wanted to scream, I wanted to run, I saw the face of my friends who seemed very frightened. They were asking for my pardon but the warriors threatened them with being punished too if they didn´t shut up.

Then I saw the man who hit me the night before, he was going to punish me.

But who was the boy near him? He wasn´t a warrior, he was one of the prisoners, one of us, a troyan, but I didn´t know his name. Anyway he was near the man and refused to look at me.

The warrior ordered me to go where he was and the others made a circle around him.

I disn´t know what to do but Odysseus agreed and took my hand to go with him.

I was trapped, nobody was going to help me, neither my lord who had always been at my side when I needed him. Now he wasn´t going to help me.

I felt tears running down my face, I couldn´t do anything, they were going to stroke me.

We were four steps away from the man when I saw the whip, I had seen them stroking horses with that. They were going to use that over me.

I couldn´t help it, the fear was inside me and I turned and tried to run away again but Odysseus was grabbing me. I heard some laughs but I didn´t care, I had to go, I was not so strong, they would kill me with that thing.

I looked at my lord and I begged, tears over my eyes, I asked for some help.

"I´m sorry" he whispered. But I felt it was truth. There were tears over his eyes too and I felt anguish in his voice.

"Why?" I asked for the reason why he let them do that to me.

"I can´t do anything,I wish I could, but you must be punished, there are some rules" he said softly, he embraced me although they were all looking at us "I´m so sorry Arish" he repeated.

I agreed and looked down as I heard the man ordering me to go near him again.

When I looked up to go with him I felt a hand over my shoulder. "Achilles--" I whispered surprised when I saw him.

"Just don´t let him hear you cry, he would enjoy it. Be strong Arish, I know you are, and the gods can be proud of you" he told me. I smiled. I thanked his words because I thought he hated me. Then I walked near the warrior who waited for me.

When I arrived at his side I looked at the young boy again. Odysseus and Achilles were just in front of me but some steps away. Then I felt the boy was nervous.

"I suppose you would be asking yourself about this boy" the man said. "Well, Arish, meet Ecletus, he was afraid of your security you see and he told me about your plans so whe could help you before somebody get hurt."

So he was the one who betrayed us- I thought. Damned boy, why should he help the greeks instead os us? I couldn´t understand it.

But the boy didn´t look at me.

"Damn you" I whispered "What now? you are not brave enough to look at me but you were brave enough to betray your friends?

Ecletus didn´t answer.

"You stupid! tell me!" I shouted while I grabbed his neck, but they push me away.

"They have won" the boy said "you´d better stay at their side"

"Clever idea" the man smiled

"You coward!" I shouted angrily "we would have got it!"

"They would have trapped us and now they would punish all of us instead of only you" the boy said.

I couldn´t help it an hit him on his face, I would have killed him if they had let me.

But this time they took me to the center of the circle so everybody could look at me. The other prisoners were near me too.

I looked at Odysseus, in front of me, I knew he didn´t want to see what they were going to do with me but he had to because I was his slave. Achilles was near him.

Some warriors put my dress away to show my back, then they made me kneel and put my body over a stone, face down.

I felt the first stroke.

The pain ran over my back as I haven´t feel it before. I felt the heat and my chest near the cold stone that hurt me too.

But I didn´t scream, I couldn´t, the pain was horrible.

I felt my tears again.

And there were nineteen left.

The second stroke was worst than the first, that one hurt a lot. I felt the blood running down my back. I shouted this time. I looked at Achilles, I was sorry but I couldn´t help it although he had told me not to cry. But he didn´t seem angry. Anyway I wouldn´t shout again.

I had to bit my lip at the third stroke not to shout. I didn´t think it could be any worse but it was. I felt too much blood running down. My back hurt a lot and tears were all over my face.

When the next stroke came I wanted to die. I cried in pain as a baby, I damned myself for that but couldn´t help it. The stone was hurting me too.

I think I begged him to stop them although they didn´t do it. They stroked me again, the fifth, the sixth and the seventh. I can´t remember when I felt unconscious but I thought I was going to die.

I think I heard Odysseus ordering them to stop, or it was Achilles? anyway they didn´t do it and I thought I would die because of the pain.

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--That´s all by know, I will write Achilles or Odysseus POV on the next chapter. Tell me if you liked this one and what do you wanted me to write on the next.--

--Review please!!--


	7. Chapter Seven

_Chapter Seven_

**Achilles POV**

The girl had been punished and I couldn´t do anything to stop it. I felt useless.

The night before I had gone after her and the other prisoners when they tried to ran away.

I didn´t know what their plans were but the man who stroked her did. I was out of my tent when I heard them going out.

As I turned I saw the slave of my friend Odysseus, Arish, she was leading the other prisoners.

I thought she was very brave, and ingenuous because she really seemed to think she could get it.

I followed her, I was curious and she had taken the sword that Odysseus had given to her. Arish would make him troubles if they found her with it and they would try to use their own swords with the girl. He knew she couldn´t fight with the warriors.

That´s why I went after her and that´s why I took her sword. I knew she thought I betrayed her but I wouldn´t have done anything like that, that damned war had been an stupid idea and I wouldn´t help the other warriors. I hated them, I hated kings, I just wanted to come back home and forget all. I didn´t want to think about what had happened, I didn´t want to remember--

Arish didn´t hate me now, I hoped, she already knew who the real traitor was.

I looked at her as she walked to be punished. She seemed to be calm, to be irrationally calm, I had never seen anybody being so cold when she knew what was going to happen.

Then it happened what I thought. Arish looked at the man who waited her and the boy near him and she saw the whip.

I saw her trying to go back, she was frightened, not as a coward but the girl she really was. She tried to run away but Odysseus stoped her. I knew he didn´t want to but it was his duty, there were some laws and nobody can do anything.

I felt he was afraid, for her. I already knew what that girl meant for him, that´s why I had asked him to make her his slave but what did Arish mean for me?

I saw him embracing her, he didn´t mind everybody was looking at them although lords didn´t use to act like that with their slaves.

I think I wouldn´t be able to do that when everybody looking at me but I was too cold. Anyway I had tried to help that girl several times. That time I couldn´t do anything but try to comfort her and that´s what I did.

It wasn´t a lie what I told her, she was strong, maybe not physically but it wasn´t the kind of thing I meant. And she was brave, and I liked that over anything. She tried to fight for her freedom and their friends one, that was honourable.

I felt her fear when I touched her shoulder and tried to calm down her but there wasn´t anything I could tell to make her feel good before what was going to happen. Nothing would help.

I told her not to cry but I knew it would be difficult.

We went in front of her, I´d rather not seing that but Odysseus had to and I was not going to leave him alone.

When they began to stroke her I had to grab his arm to stop him as he wanted to go with Arish.

I saw her face and heard her moaning and shouting in pain.

She looked at me when she screamed and I felt guilt because I knew she thought she had dissapointed me. It was not truth, it surprised me that she endured more than three strokes and she endured until the seventh.

I wish I could have told her I was proud of her and that I loved her bravery but it wasn´t easy for me to talk about my feelings.

I don´t mind to say I had to close my eyes when she fell after the stroke who made her fall unconcious, I couldn´t say what I saw on her face before her eyes closed.

Then I heard Odysseus begging them to stop, it wasn´t useful anymore as the girl was unconcious but the other man didn´t want to stop.

"The punishment are twenty strokes" he said "there are ten left"

We both wanted to kill him and I didn´t stop Odysseus this time when he went and took Arish away.

There were some whispers between the warriors and then the man tried to hit Odysseus. I had to help him again, like always. I think the man didn´t thought about what he was doing because nobody would have tried to hit a king unless he was mad.

Anyway I enjoyed it because he would have to be punished too because of it.

I ordered my men to look after the warrior and they took him away.

Then I ordered everybody to go back and take care of their own things. Nobody say a word and they did just that.

I looked at Odysseus while he took Arish to his tent and I decided to help him.

I went inside the tent too and I did stay near the girl as Odysseus went out to get something to take care of the wounds.

The girl-or I should say young woman- was almost naked, her dress was down just over her waist. I put her over her chest not to hurt her wounded back and couldn´t help caressing it and her neck softly. I wanted to take care of her and didn´t know why. It was Odysseus problem after all.

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--That´s all by now. I would like you to tell me what do you want to happen next. It seems like Achilles do feel something for Arish. You asked for it so here it is, lol. But just let me know what do you want.--

--Oh, and thanks to stoned-love. Keep reviewing please!! Thanksss--


	8. Chapter Eight

_(My apologizes to all of you readers. It has been a long time since I last updated and I´m really sorry but I have been very busy and had almost forgotten about this. But now I´m back and I hope I can keep updating more often. Here goes..._

_**Chapter Eight.**_

They were almost taken my skin away. I looked around but it was all dark. I couldn´t seen the man who was punishing me but I could feel his strong hands hiting my body over and over, was I dead and it was my punishment in the Underworld? Had I been condemned as Prometeus to an endless torture? There was no vulture eating my body but as Marsyas they seemed to be flaying me alive.

The worst thing was that the punishment had no end and I could hear the people laughing at me.

I looked to the place where the laughs came from and I could see the faces of my troyan brothers and sisters. They pointed at me and laughed.

I didn´t cry, as they had asked me, but not because of that but ´cause I couldn´t. The teardrops didn´t come out from my eyes although the pain was unbearable.

But there was one thing even worse and it was that Odysseus and Achilles didn´t look at me, nor even when I went near them and asked them to help me. They didn´t move. They ignored me.

To know that I couldn´t die almost made me go crazy.

I shouted but no sound came out from my throat. I tried to move but I couldn´t. My body didn´t answered to any order from my brain though the pain was still there and the blood was running down all over my body.

And then I saw my family, they were there, some steps away from me, my father, my mother, and my little brother, they smiled at me and were coming to meet me, their arms opened, they were happy but something was wrong. Somebody was running after them, tall naked men with weapons. I tried to advise my parents but I couldn´t speak.

The men took them and killed my family. I saw my father´s head again falling onto the ground and the sword going through my mother´s chest. There was only my brother left. When I managed to go near him somebody threw him away over the walls of the city.

"NO!" I shouted "don´t you do it! Please!"

I felt somebody grabbing my shoulder. I tried to hold on him but the pain was terrible and stopped me.

Then I felt the soft touch of the water over my face and over my back and it took the pain away for a moment.

When I woke up I desired not to. I was laying over some blankets inside Odysseus´ tent, over my chest, my back burnt like fire because of the pain,

I moaned and a hand touched my shoulder and made me to stop moving.

"Don´t move or it will be worse" I recognized Achilles´voice, what was he doing inside Odysseus´ tent?

"How long...?"

"Almost two days, you had fever.

"My parents...my brother...I couldn´t help them."

"It was only a nightmare, Arish, calm down"

I turned my head and looked at him. "Are they alive?" I asked.

Achilles looked at me. "You know they aren´t. Don´t you think about it now"

I closed my eyes for a moment trying to remember what had really happened and what had I imagined.

"Did they kill me?" He laughed at the question.

"I hope they don´t because in that case I would be dead too" he whispered with a smile, the sweetest smile I thought I had ever seen.

"My back hurts"

"I know, it would be strange if it doesn´t" he answered as he came at my side and threw a bit of water with a rag over my back. "Feels better?"

I nodded. "Yes, thanks"

For a moment no os us knew what more to say, I didn´t like being that way in front of him, almost naked.

He sank the rag into the water and repeated the same thing again over my back. I closed my eyes trying to forget about everything but it was not that easy.

"Where´s Odysseus?" I asked suddenly taking notice of the fact that I hadn´t seen him.

"I made him to go to my tent and have some rest. He has been taking care of you since you were unconscious. I told him I could take care of you but he didn´t want to let me. I think he was getting so tired he couldn´t endure it anymore and since you were getting better I got him to obbey me and left." He explained.

I kept silent. So two powerful greek warriors had been taking care of me, taking care of a troyan slave, I could hardly believe it.

I looked at Achilles as he got another wet rag. I looked at his face forgetting for a moment who he really was. It was truth he was very handsome. His long blond hair and his brown skin with those pale eyes, and his strong arms...

It was funny that man born to kill was taking care of the life of another person.

I looked away when he put his eyes on me.

"This is going to hurt" he said. But before I could make any question he threw the water over the wounds of my back again, this time it was no pleasure but pain. I had to bit my lip in order not to scream as I felt the teardrops running down over my cheeks.

"Stop it!" I shouted in pain. "What are you doing!"

"Shut up, it´s only water"

"That´s no..."

"It´s sea water" he answered. "It will make your wounds to heal faster"

I shouted in pain again as he cleaned the wounds with the rag but he didn´t pay any attention to my complaints.

"Now you have to eat"

"Stop giving me orders"

"As you were a slave?" he mocked.

"I´m not YOUR slave"

He laughed.

"Luckily because you would make me into too many troubles. Although maybe that way your plans would be better."

"Would you help me with plans? I thought they only told you fight´and you just made it leaving the thinking things to the others." I answered.

Achilles sank the rag into the sea water once more time and threw it over my back.

(Well that have been all for now, how did it go? I´m sorry again for the mistakes but as I said english isn´t my first language and...now it´s 12:25 am and I´m a bit sleepy, lol.

Thanks to everyone that reviewed me! I will write the next chapter very soon if you want to keep reading ;)


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